


One Mutant: Stuffed and Mounted

by ladysekhmetka



Series: Exploring BDSM [1]
Category: Homestuck
Genre: Anal Sex, Begging, Bondage, Branding, Bukkake, Bulges and Nooks, Come Inflation, Double Penetration, Dubious Consent, Gangbang, Horn Job, Humiliation, Hurt/Comfort, Kidnapping, Multi, Pale Porn, Sexual Slavery, Triple Penetration
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-10-08
Updated: 2014-10-08
Packaged: 2018-02-20 09:32:08
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,337
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2423786
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ladysekhmetka/pseuds/ladysekhmetka
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Where a young troll with a cull worthy blood mutation is captured by Alternia slave traders and put in his proper place where he can best serve the Empire as a pail, undergoing an initiation at the trader's hands to better acclimate him to his future service. Contains a quadrantless pailing scene deemed inappropriate for trolls under 8 sweeps of age, inappropriate use of a pailing slave and a surprise ending</p>
            </blockquote>





	One Mutant: Stuffed and Mounted

**Author's Note:**

  * For [sabaku_no_gaara_ai](https://archiveofourown.org/users/sabaku_no_gaara_ai/gifts).



> Special thanks to sabaku_no_gaara_ai for not only being my editor, but being the perfect echoing board for my schemes and the conductor of my personal feels train.... All aboard!
> 
> And now I'm going to hide, please enjoy the show ^.^

“Hey mutant, ready to join the Alternian slave trade?”

The words echoed through Karkat's mind as he was half dragged, half frog-marched forward, stumbling over his own feet. His eyes had been covered tightly with a thick blindfold and his arms wrestled behind him; his wrists manacled, attached to the cold metal collar locked around his neck by lengths of chain that clinked whenever he tried to struggle. The trolls that had captured him (dear god he hoped they were trolls or he would never live it down) had triggered his submission reflex before shoving a large rubbery-tasting gag in his mouth. He still felt weak and dizzy. The sounds of his captors' footsteps and his own muffled growls echoed through what sounded like a hallway. One was ahead of him, pulling on what sounded like a chain leash attached to the collar around his neck, and there were two behind him, each holding on to an arm. Fear and humiliation flooded through his system as he was lead like a damn beaten bark beast somewhere.

He heard the sound of a door opening to the right and the troll in the lead pulled him through as the other two let go of his arms and followed behind. He wasn't given a chance to try and get his bearings before the troll in front yanked on the leash hard, whipping him forward. He stumbled and fell forward. He landed hard on something that might have been soft at one point, but it was now thin, smelled foul, and felt grimy. Above him, a mechanical, fake sounding voice said. “Look at the rare prize we caught.”

He heard laughter all around him and tried to not think about how he looked right now; defenseless, weaponless, teeth and claws useless, spit dribbling down his chin. His situation made his body clench in ways he didn't want to admit even to himself. Why was he reacting this way? His breathing was ragged and quick and he couldn't help the shiver that traveled the length of his body. It wasn't fear that caused it. He struggled to roll over and sit up, but a heavy weight landed on his back, pinning him in place, and he gasped. “We should strip our prey down to properly inspect it,” said the weight on his back, a different mechanical voice. The troll ground down almost suggestively and Karkat groaned at the confusing sensation of pleasure that shot through him. “It isn't going to need clothing after today anyway.”

“Good,” said another voice some distance away from him. When he focused his senses in that direction, he could smell smoke and hear the crackle of a fire burning. “I wasn't going to brand it with that thick sweater in the way.”

Karkat gasped in fear and nearly choked on his own spit when he realized that his nook and bulge were reacting to the words as well; why the fuck was he getting wet? Why the FUCK was his bulge pressing at the opening of his sheath? This wasn't _sexy;_ this was the _furthest_ thing from sexy, and _why_ was his body reacting this way to such demeaning treatment? He fought the manacles, kicking his legs out to try and connect with anything he could reach, but the troll on top of him merely ran their fingers over the bed of his horns. “Stop that, or I'll just trigger your submission reflex again,” they threatened. When Karkat slumped, shivering helplessly, they continued. “Here, hand me the sickles. They'll get one final use before we melt them down for scrap.”

Sharp metal scraped against the metal collar ominously and Karkat screamed through the gag as he felt the point of the sickle catch on the collar of his shirt. He tried to pull away, but he was trapped under the troll as they slowly sliced his sweater off of him. He went limp as the fabric was torn away roughly and whimpered as the blunt curve of the sickle was pressed over a grubscar in a teasing manner. “Maybe we should brand and tag it like a moobeast...” said the voice above him. Fingers pinched his other grubscar hard and he moaned before he could bite back the sound. He could hear the smug sounds of the trolls around him laughing at him. “Or put some pretty jewelry on it to attract the wealthy buyers.”

The distant voice replied, “I do have the tools, if that's agreed to.”

“Let us see how the branding goes first,” said a new voice, one that almost sounded familiar in cadence, from the other side of the room.

The troll sitting on him sniffed and grabbed his pants by the waist band. Karkat gasped and tried to beg them not to, but the gag muffled his pleas for mercy. The troll ignored his pathetic noises though, sliding the sickle down and shredding the denim with frightening ease. Karkat struggled and squirmed, but it did no good as he was left bare. He tried to curl up to hide his body from view as his bulge escaped from his sheath, but more hands grabbed his legs as the leash was pulled taut, forcing him to lie flat so he couldn't. The troll on his back laughed while Karkat whimpered at the indignity of it all. A hand came down on his ass hard, making him shriek. “Time to examine the goods.”

The troll got off him and he was flipped over by the others. Karkat turned his face to the side as he was laid out on his back, bound arms beneath him. He fought back tears as the trolls around him made noises of appreciation. “Looks like we got us a rare freak on our hands.” said yet another mechanized voice, and a hand harshly tugged at his exposed bulge. Karkat gasped as it was pulled up and away from his body, moved this way and that almost clinically, like they were putting his mutation on display. “Where did you find this culling waiting to happen?”

Laughter rang out again and he was slapped across the face. He growled at the stinging sensation in his cheek and he was slapped again from the other side. “Walking around like its very blood color wasn't an insult to the Empire.”

The hand around his bulge suddenly started to squeeze and relax rhythmically, and Karkat moaned in embarrassment at his body's reaction to the unfamiliar touch. He struggled to keep his hips still, but they had a mind of their own, canting up into the touch. “Is the fact that it's a freak going to affect our profits?”

“Once it's branded,” said the far away voice, “it will be property and not a troll. Only trolls can be culled for mutations; property with mutations are 'rarities' and worth more at the market.”

Karkat shrieked and then moaned again as a second hand traced the edges of his nook, little shocks of pleasure coursing through him. “It certainly seems eager. Look at how sloppy and wet this nook is. Let's give the little pail-slut a taste of its future. If it's really good at taking bulge, we can charge a premium.”

“Or sell it to some stupid seadweller with too much money.” said another voice slyly.

There were mixed reactions to that statement, a couple of offended gasps but far more laughter. The fingers at his nook pushed in just slightly and Karkat kicked blindly and keened. He was slapped again and more hands pinned his ankles down. Shackles closed around his ankles, holding his legs apart with what seemed to be a metal bar. He felt like he couldn't breath, like a weight was on his chest, but he must have been able to because he could still moan as his bulge was squeezed and his nook roughly spread opened and fingered. Drool dripped around the gag and down his face as he battled the sensations his kidnappers forced on his body. He was close, so very close, and he fought to stay away from that edge of completion even as he wanted desperately to finish. He felt tears forming in his eyes and bit down on the gag hard, resigning himself to being forced to come in front of all these trolls.

Abruptly, the hands stopped and pulled away. Karkat shrieked in denial, fought the hands holding him down, and tried to get any kind of friction. He blushed in humiliation as the trolls around him laughed and mocked. “You want to finish, cull-bait?” asked someone. Karkat turned his face toward the voice and keened desperately. “We're going to take the gag out then. You're going to have to earn it.”

Hands unbuckled the gag and Karkat shuddered as it was pulled out of his mouth, strings of spit dripping over his lips. He worked his sore jaw and licked the tender corners of his mouth before speaking. “Please...” he rasped. “Please don't...”

He was slapped again, hard, and rolled over on his belly. He heard the sound of rustling clothing and he was pulled up by the leash and collar to his knees. A bulge, icy cold and smelling like brine, suddenly traced over his lips, and he tried to pull away. A hand grabbed his horn and pulled his face around, the bulge smearing its fluid over his face “You know what to do, bulge-slut. No teeth or I'll knock them out and then fuck your face after giving the bases of your horns a little squeeze.”

Karkat let out a strangled sob, fighting the manacles and the grip on his collar. “No, please...”

A second troll slid up behind him, bulge already lashing against his bare ass and said, “Excuse me? Property doesn't get a say in the matter.” Karkat gasped, mouth opening wide as the troll behind him slid their bulge into his nook, and the troll in front took advantage of that, sliding their own bulge into Karkat's mouth. Karkat moaned, horrified at his body's willingness to give in so easily, his own bulge wriggling against his belly desperately. “We're going to fuck every sloppy open hole you've got, until all you can think about is pleasing your owners in whatever way they want. Don't worry, we've got enough bodies to keep you filled for hours...”

Karkat wailed around the bulge in his mouth as the two trolls pushed hard and fast into him. He was already getting close again, still worked up from earlier, and every flex and wiggle of the bulge in his nook sent sharp little sparks of pleasure through his entire body, like they knew exactly where all of his most sensitive areas were. He keened as he felt his body start to clench up, licking and sucking at the bulge in his mouth as if pleading with the troll before him to not let the other troll stop. He was so close. In the background, over the wet noises of pailing, he could hear the rest of the trolls in the room discussing the order they planned to fuck him and he felt his will to resist start to shatter. The bulge in his nook twisted just right and he came hard, material splattering over his hips and abdomen to drip down to the cloth surface below. The troll in front gasped and came as well, filling his mouth up with slurry that he tried to swallow, but couldn't manage it all. Material dripped down his chin and neck as the troll pulled back. “Oh, look at that,” said a troll to his right somewhere. “He's going to be the perfect bucket-slave.”

Karkat hiccuped and trembled as the second troll continued to fuck his oversensitive nook. They hadn't even give him a chance to beg for a bucket before he came. A whine escaped his throat and he burned with the shame that these strange trolls could make him spill like this. “Please, I don't want... this isn't...” he wailed. He fought the tears in his eyes, grateful that the blindfold hid them.

“Too bad, wriggler,” said a troll as they settled in front of him, the soft surface dipping slightly under their weight. “Hurry and open up, we all want piece of the action.”

Fingers pinched his nose shut and he only resisted for a moment before opening his mouth for the second bulge. The troll in his nook suddenly pressed harder into him and Karkat could feel the coolness of their slurry pour into him and fill up his gene bladder. The troll slumped against him, breathing heavily and laughing. “Not bad. Who's next?”

Another bulge slid into him slowly, this one much thicker than the last. Karkat cried out around the bulge in his mouth as he was stuffed and stretched, tears soaking into the fabric of the blindfold. When the troll was fully seated in him, hips pressed against his ass, their bulge coiled once and Karkat's perception of the scene went a little fuzzy around the edges. He nearly passed out from the combination of pleasure and pain, and couldn't stop the desperate little chirp that escaped his lips; was he really this close again so soon? He sobbed at how his body was so willing to betray him, no matter how good it felt.

The bulge in his mouth swelled, then pulled out, covering his face and hair with material. Hands were suddenly pressing his head and shoulders down and into the cushioning beneath him, touching his grubscars and the nape of his neck. Through the haze of being pailed stupid by the monster bulge in him, he heard a voice say, “Hold it down, if it squirms, the brand will blur and we'll have to do it again.”

Something hot passed over his back and he was suddenly very aware of the room around him, the trolls holding him down, and Karkat screamed in terror, struggling to get away through any means. “No, fuck, please! I'll do anything, just don't mark me.”

Between the irons binding him, the grip of several pairs of hands holding him down, and the bulge impaling him, his escape attempts remained futile. The troll fucking his nook stilled their body, but their bulge continued to flex hard at his inner walls. He felt a hand reach around his hip to fondle his bulge, sending his brain into a fog of pleasure that actually seemed almost to be enhanced by his fear.

Something touched his right shoulder blade and he screamed at the burning sensation, his senses going blank as he came a second time. He could hear someone counting and the sound of flesh sizzling. He sobbed, tears coming fast, and slumped in his captors' grips. He was marked, no longer a troll, just a slave and a bucket to be used. When the implement was finally pulled away from his shoulder, his entire shoulder ached and burned, but inside he felt empty. “Good, the mark is very clear.”

The troll in his nook continued to fuck him, and he just let it happen. There wasn't a point to struggling anymore. He was marked and doomed to whatever fate they had planned for him. Someone pulled at his horns, tugging his face up and pushing their bulge against his lips. Karkat opened his mouth and took the length in without a whisper of a complaint. He wrapped his lips around the bulge tight and the troll behind him grabbed the chains between the collar and his wrists. He was being fucked at both ends and the troll in front groaned, “Good, good slut sucks bulge...”

The troll behind him came inside him, filling him up even further. The large bulge was pulled out of him and another slid into place easily, not nearly as thick as the last one. Karkat didn't even react, his brain a foggy mess of emotions and surprisingly pleasant sensations that. “You and your monster bulge ruined him...” the new troll complained.

“Whatever, dumbass, not my fault the rest of you got skinny fucking bulges going on.”

The troll in his mouth cackled. “No fighting! Make tight again, here...”

The bulge in his mouth pulled out and Karkat found himself being pulled off the other bulge and spun around. Hands supported his torso and leaned him forward slightly so his ass was sticking out. Karkat flinched when he felt something warm and wet prodding at his waste chute. “Fuck, please, no,” he begged. “Please not there...”

The troll behind him laughed, leaning into him and pressing clothed rumble spheres into his back. The bulge pressed in slowly, almost carefully, and Karkat slumped forward, whimpering as he was split open. He was pulled back to sit in their lap, legs forced apart. The other troll settled against his front and pushed back in with a hiss and growl of approval. “Oh... much better now,” they purred and Karkat could hear the smug smile in their voice.

They moved inside him, syncing up easily, and Karkat moaned, slumping against the troll behind him, begging and pleading with little half words and cries for mercy. Teeth closed around his neck, just enough to send a trill of danger through him and he made an embarrassingly soft, submissive noise and the troll growled possessively back. There was cackling laughter in his ears, fingers trailing briefly over his grubscars before something yanked on his horns. His face was pressed against someone's exposed bulge, smearing even more fluid across his face before they managed to feed it between his lips. There was cheering around him as the three trolls used him. Someone gasped, high and delicate and he could feel his gene bladder expanding as it was filled with even more slurry. The teeth around his throat relaxed and pulled away as the bulge in his nook slid out.

“Who next? Keep bucket nice and full...” said the troll behind him, rubbing his swollen belly.

“Move over, I got this” said another voice and there were suddenly two separate lengths pressing into his nook, stuffing him almost to the limit. He cried out around the bulge in his mouth, a high keening noise, both wanting to get away and wanting more. Hands stroked up and down his body, and it was too much. He came again, only spilling a little bit of red over himself. His body was wracked with vicious, intense shudders, but none of the trolls fucking him showed any sign of slowing down or backing off. “Fuck, you are perfect for this. What kind of troll would get off on being used like this?”

“A failure and a freak,” murmured another troll, “but then again, it's not even a troll anymore, is it?”

Karkat moaned, his body clenching down on the bulges in him and someone gasped. There was a sudden gush of slurry pouring down his throat. He tried to swallow it all, but the troll pulled out and let the last few spurts splatter across his chest and face. Karkat only got the chance to cough for a moment before another bulge was pushed into his mouth. This one had a piercing through the tip and he groaned as he felt the barbell scrape along the back of his mouth as the bulge twitched, seeking the back of his throat. The bulges in his nook and ass flexed together just right and he cried out around the flesh in his mouth before fading into a little hum at the end. The troll groaned in pleasure. “Oh, that was nice, make it do that again.”

Everything in him moved and he tried to repeat the sound his captor enjoyed. If he hadn't already been blindfolded, his eyes would have closed in shame at how turned on he still was; how willing he was to follow their orders. He could tell that the trolls around him weren't going to stop; they were going to keep pushing him until he passed out. Something wrapped around his horns and he realized that it was a bulge, tugging his head back. The troll in his mouth snarled and he was pulled forward by the collar around his neck. Suddenly, his head was being used in a snarling tug of war. Karkat whined submissively as he was pulled back and forth, the snarls around him escalating until a voice said, “Ladies, be civil.”

He heard a growl and then the sound of something getting thumped hard followed by a cry of pain. The tugging stopped and now Karkat found himself being pushed instead between the two trolls. The troll behind him laughed breathlessly, bulge still lashing in him, and said, “Good fuck, better pail. Maybe fill you up more, pail-slut, or come on back?” He keened as he felt the troll start to fill up his waste chute with material, but then pulled out to dribble material down his back as well. “Oops, you get both.”

Karkat keened and tried to beg for them to stop, but all it did was cause the troll in his mouth to shudder and then he was choking on material, coughing and gagging as the fluid spilled from his mouth and down his chin and chest. There was another sound of a troll gasping and fluid from the bulge around his horns oozed through his hair and down his scalp and neck. They pulled away and he sobbed, “Please... please, no more...”

“But we're not done yet,” murmured someone, tracing a claw down his horn. Karkat clenched at the stimulus, and the bulges in his nook twisted in reaction, one brushing against the entrance of his gene bladder. He keened at the sensation, struggling to keep the slurry inside of him. _“You're_ not done yet. _”_

“Please, please, bucket...” Karkat gasped, squirming. The troll snickered and the bulges flexed their tips against the entrance of his gene bladder a little more firmly. He shrieked and manged to keep the fluid in by sheer willpower. “Fuck please, I'm going to spill, it hurts, I need a bucket!”

“Don't you remember? You ARE the bucket...”

A large and briny tasting bulge filled his mouth before he could respond, spreading his mouth wide open with its girth and he sobbed as the ones in his nook continued to press against the spots that made him tremble from the exertion of keeping the material from gushing out. “No spilling our slurry, bucket. It's more valuable than you are as a pail if you can't hold it in. You don't want to fail at the only thing you're good for, right?”

He trembled, holding on by the barest of threads, and the bulges in him suddenly tensed, spilling and shoving hard against those sensitive spots. Karkat shrieked as he came once more, painfully and dry, and then his tenuous grip on his gene bladder was gone. The combined slurry from the trolls that had fucked him gushed from his nook. The troll inside him cursed and pulled out so quickly that there wasn't even a chance for Karkat to clamp down, to hold back any of the slurry spilling from him. Karkat sobbed, humiliation flooding his face as the troll in his mouth suddenly pulled out and shoved him face down into the puddle beneath him. “Filthy fucker... clean this up.”

He couldn't stop crying and shaking, He just laid there, ass in the air and face in the rapidly cooling puddle being absorbed by the cushioning beneath him. Someone grabbed him by one horn, twisting his head around, and hissed in his ear, “Useless little whore, can't even use you as a bucket without you fucking up.” The voice paused before going on, so quiet that he could barely hear, “I guess it's no surprise you fucked up so bad during the game and and got so many of your friends killed.”

He... that... Karkat's blood ran cold and he freaked out. “No, no, fuck, Prospit!”

Everything in the room changed in an instant, trolls backing off and there was a crackle of psionics over his skin, ozone scenting the air, and a screech of metal as the manacles and collar were wrenched open. Suddenly, he could recognize voices around him asking what had happened, one ordering the rest to back up. He made a soft keening noise of despair and anxiety and then there were cool hands gently helping him sit up, touching him soft and pale. Kanaya's soft , dearest voice murmured in his ear, “It's okay, I've got you. It's over, you're safe...”

He threw his arms around her and she didn't flinch away from him, despite the disgusting mess of material he was covered in, letting him burrow into her chest as her arms wrapped around him carefully. He was crying uncontrollably now, on the verge of hyperventilation. She made soft soothing noises and worked her fingers through his horridly bedraggled hair. She picked at the knot of the blindfold while gently scratching his scalp. “I'm sorry,” he sobbed. “I just couldn't anymore... he... I...”

She patted his back. “Karkat, breathe for me, okay?” He did, finally, one shuddering breath after another. “Do you think you can stand? I can carry you if not...” Karkat nodded shakily and with Kanaya's help, stood up. He was vaguely aware of other trolls hovering around them, asking questions, removing half-masks, a few (most notably his matesprit and kismesis) even trying to touch him. He just burrowed deeper into his moirail's arms and she let loose a drawn-out, low warning hiss at them, causing the others to back up immediately. “Let's get you cleaned up, dear. I imagine you're thirsty too, right?”

He let her lead him away from the tangle of other trolls, away from the noise of it all, and into a quiet, softly lit room. She sat him down and moved to get him some water. He blinked, looked down at himself, and saw the myriad of colors painted on his skin; the olive, fuchsia, maroon, jade, ocher, violet and teal that splashed over his skin looked almost like blood instead of material. He burst into fresh tears at the sight. Kanaya made a distressed noise of her own, putting the water bottle down, and pulled him close to her chest. “You're okay, I've got you. Karkat, darling, what's wrong?”

“I don't know what to feel,” he sobbed. “It felt so real, even though I knew it was all part of the plan. Like I wasn't going to see anyone ever again! Then someone said...”

“What precisely did Eridan say to you? The last part was too quiet for anyone else to hear.”

Karkat swallowed a hysterical sob of laughter down. Of course it had been Eridan, that absolute, fish-fucking asshole. “He said... he said that I'd failed. That I'm the fuck-up that got everyone killed. He's right too. If this had been real, I'd deserve it as punishment.”

“Oh, _Karkat_ ,” Kanaya soothed. “Dearest diamond, no. You did everything you could to hold everyone together for as long as you could. What happened on the meteor and after was _not_ your fault. We got everyone back after the game was won, so...” She drifted off. He could tell she wasn't thrilled about _everyone_ getting that second chance. “Even if that weren't the case, you don't deserve to be dragged into slavery.”

“So, if something like this ever actually happened, you'd look for me then?” he mumbled into her neck.

“Of course I would, and so would Sollux and Terezi! Everyone would. Come on, let's get you into the trap.”

Kanaya helped him stand, step over the edge of the ablution trap that had been set up by Equius beforehand, and got him situated. She fussed with faucets before grabbing a rag to carefully start wiping him clean. Karkat leaned into her gentle touch, his breathing starting to even out and the tears to finally slow. The cloth ran over his shoulder and he flinched at the lingering sting. “How... how did the branding feel so real? I heard and smelled my fucking skin burn...”

Kanaya hummed and replied, “Porrim used a bit of oinkbeast skin for the sound and smell of the brand and touched you with one chilled in dry ice. She promised it would feel like a burn, but not leave any permanent damage to your skin. I thought you were going to safeword right then though.”

Karkat sighed. “I almost did...” he rasped.

Kanaya dunked the washcloth in the water and draped it over his horns before reaching behind him. “Here, drink something, you're probably dehydrated.”

She handed him a bottle of water before continuing to clean him up. Karkat opened the bottle and drank the whole thing down at once. It was the best tasting water he'd ever had. Kanaya took the empty bottle from him and handed him another one. “Don't drink this one so quickly,” she admonished. Silence reigned while she finished gently washing the various colors from his skin. When the water ran mostly clean, she plugged the drain and poured some cleansing solution in the water before she said softly. “Do you want to talk about it?”

“Yes? Maybe?” Karkat replied, curling up to hug his knees. “I mean, fuck, I don't know where to start...” Kanaya didn't say anything, waiting for him to organize his thoughts, rubbing his shoulders and neck soothingly. “It was... very intense, and I don't understand how this even became a thing with humans. I mean, how stupid do you have to be to willingly role-play that kind of bullshit? To trust that someone's going to stop when you say so?”

“But...” Kanaya prompted knowingly.

“I guess they kinda have some good ideas. It was pretty hot...” Karkat admitted, closing his eyes and leaning back. “Not being able to see was bad, but the voice changers freaked me out the most. I knew in the back of my pan that it was trolls I knew, but I couldn't see them and all I could hear were these cold, metallic voices. Guess I'll have to thank Equius for that bit of mind fuckery. And I _might_ have been enjoying myself, a lot, until someone opened their big mouth at the end there.”

Kanaya growled, and primly said, “He won't be allowed back if you decide you want to do this again.” She glanced through her eyelashes. “Do you want to do this again?”

“I don't know,” Karkat replied, “Maybe...”

She playfully tossed the washcloth at his face. “Let me get your hair, dearest.” Karkat ducked his head forward and she started to rub some cleaning scrub into his scalp, pausing only to turn off the tub spigot when the foamy bubbles in the tub almost reached the rim. Karkat sighed and relaxed, letting her firm fingers massage the tension from his scalp.

There was a knock at the door and Aradia stuck her head in. “Everything okay in here?”

Karkat curled up tighter and didn't say a word. Kanaya sighed and replied, “We're fine, Aradia thank you. If you could please have a word with Eridan about breaking character and mentioning inappropriate things during a scene...”

Aradia blinked. “Oh, really?” Her lips stretched into the widest, most frightening grin Karkat had even seen on his auspitice's face, and for her, that was saying something. “I'll be sure to interrogate him... thoroughly.”

She pulled back and closed the door. Calm silence reigned, broken only by Kanaya's humming as she returned to scrubbing his scalp with wide motions of her fingers, nearly lulling him to sleep. “You do know that you're not a failure, right?”

Karkat shifted uncomfortably and mumbled, “I feel like I am.”

“I know,” Kanaya replied, and leaned in to kiss his forehead. “So I shall keep reminding you that you're not until you believe it. We made it through everything and everyone's alive again. We survived and won the game, dearest, and that's all that matters.”

 

**Author's Note:**

> You can also find me on [tumblr](http://ladysekh.tumblr.com/) or [deviantArt](http://ladysekhmetka.deviantart.com/)


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